Tyler, The Creator's long awaited follow up to 2017's "Flower Boy" released a few weeks ago and let me tell you it's been on repeat ever since. IGOR is the perfect break up album it's composed beautifully and is one of the most pleasing records instrumentally that I've listened to in recent times. I'm willing to say it's Tyler's masterpiece but before I just straight up give it a score before I've covered any of the tracks lets get into those.
Track 1; IGOR'S THEME; This is one of my favorite openers ever, the droning synth is piercing and comes out of nowhere, after it plays for about ten seconds you almost feel like you're being watched, it's a really nice effect. Then the beat drops along with some crooning from Lil Uzi Vert which is surprisingly welcome he sounds pretty good. This track starts one of the main themes of the album as well, running (in this one Uzi sings "Running round town they gon feel this one", while Tyler ad-libs "Running" throughout the background of the song). After a very pretty piano section one of my favorite sections of the song kicks in with an insane chord progression that energizes you like a car battery.
Track 2; EARFQUAKE; This song starts off the theme of love on this record with a somewhat clever metaphor that's also a little corny but hey it works. The booming vocals on the hook "Don't leave it's my fault" that have Tyler and Charlie Wilson's vocals layered onto each other is absolutely nuts. Playboi Carti's verse although indecipherable is pretty fucking good he really works well on the tracks focused melody. The final verse from Tyler is pretty laid-back but also enjoyable and it makes for a track with A LOT of replay value.
Track 3; I THINK; I love the "Four", "Skate" ad libs across the song not sure why they just work. At first Tyler's flow is extremely Kanye influenced it almost sounds like one of the verses off "Stronger". I can see this song being a lot of fun live with a lot of back and forth between Tyler and the crowd such as "Fuck that" which is followed up by a line from Tyler twice. The hook "I think I'm falling in love" has some great backing vocals from Solange along with Santigold and gets stuck in your head along with the mini-bridge that Solange serves up about a minute and a half into the song. The actual bridge is a great instrumental that is pretty 70s but fits the sound of the album really well, with some bouncy synths and some very quirky piano notes every now and then.
Track 4; EXACTLY WHAT YOU RUN FROM YOU END UP CHASING; This is the first of Jerrod Carmichael's spoken words on the album and I like the message and I do think it's accurate the 15 second interlude doesn't have much replay value but when you listen to the album in full it is a nice break.
Track 5; RUNNING OUT OF TIME; Although it isn't Frank's vocals that open the track it sure does sound like him but turns out it's just a pitched up Tyler. This was initially one of my favorites on the trackless but after a few weeks it's not really held up for me. Although the synths are gorgeous it just doesn't have immense replay value. The breakdown is one of my favorite instrumental sections of the album though I don't know how Tyler does it but man that guy has a talent for melodies. But yeah that's about it for this song it's enjoyable at first but loses that value after a bit.
Track 6; NEW MAGIC WAND; This is probably the song that goes the hardest on the album outside of "WHAT'S GOOD". It's pretty nostalgic of older Tyler mostly because he's talking about possibly killing his interest's current partner and possibly even the interest. Yeah it's a little intense but god damn does that bass hit. Still trying to figure out what "New Magic Wand" really means. At first it was a gun but I don't know that hasn't really held up for me. The breakdowns are probably Tyler's forte on this album because this song has one too and wow is it great. The second bass drop goes harder than the first and you just have to move when it kicks in. He's pretty much obsessed with the love interest in the song and seems to be willing to do pretty much anything to get them.
Track 7; A BOY IS A GUN*; This is a personal favorite of mine, very Kanye especially because the song samples "Bound" a song also sampled by Kanye on "Bound 2" off "Yeezus". This song is just a soulful banger, the short verses fit it perfectly and the hook is great "You so motherfucking dangerous" has been stuck in my head 24/7. Although the lyrical material isn't crazy it fits the vibe of the song really well and makes for a great listening experience. P.S: if you haven't checked it out listen to the mash up of this song and "Bound 2" on youtube whoever made it did a great job.
Track 8; PUPPET; Not my favorite song on the album but probably one of my favorite messages throughout the entire album. Basically Tyler has invested himself so much in this relationship that he doesn't really know who he is anymore "I'm your puppet you control me, I'm your puppet I don't know me". He's fallen to deep in love that he isn't even sure that it's love anymore. Kanye has a verse on the song that's a little mumbled but it fits the song so I guess I can't be mad, reminds me a bit of how NAV sounded on "YOSEMITE" off "ASTROWORLD", Kanye sounds a little bit distant but maybe that's thematic, who's to say. The instrumental is very chill and soulful and all around makes a really good song.
Track 9; WHAT'S GOOD; Another personal favorite, it was my favorite of the snippets mostly just because of the video that it was released with but man does the song hold up on its own. This song really embodies who I think Igor is (hint: it's Tyler in luv), he's mad in this song though unclear why. Another beautiful breakdown, of course, it's Tyler. And then comes these out of key synth hits that lead into one of my favorite moments in music this year with some background vocals from slowthai, a British rapper I discovered earlier this year who also dropped an album the same day Tyler did so I guess that all works out. The bass in this section could give you a heart attack and Tyler's aggressive flow just piles onto that effect. It then flows back into the original instrumental of the song with some extra bass hits for fun. It ends on another highpoint with a fade-out accompanied by slowthai repeating "I see the light".
Track 10; GONE, GONE / THANK YOU; Yet another personal favorite (I did say I loved this album). This song just came out at an oddly good time. It has a hook that well, stays hooked with some pitched up vocals from Ceelo Green. One of my favorite parts of the song is the verse from Tyler that goes over a pitched down version of the original instrumental/hook. This is what I imagine is the day after the break-up he's trying to understand what went wrong but can't for the life of him he compares the relationship to living in an apartment building in a pretty good rhyme scheme. The second part of this song (THANK YOU) is my favorite though, it's the stage of the end of this relationship where everything is a little exaggerated but it feels so real within the moment especially in lines like "I don't think I'll ever want to fall in love again".
Track 11; I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE; This is my least favorite track on the album if you aren't counting the interlude. It just doesn't do much for me. I understand the message but other than that it just doesn't affect me like the other songs. The instrumental is okay it has a nice vocal sample and some nice sounding guitars. The high point is the pitched down section of the song that Tyler raps over but his verse isn't long enough for it to be memorable for me.
Track 12; ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?; THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG. I've listened to this song SO MUCH since its release but god does it hit home. The instrumental is absolutely gorgeous with one of my favorite soul samples I think ever along with some anthemic horns and booming vocals from Tyler. The whole song is pretty much just singing and I think it's perfect like that given how raw Tyler's vocals are when he sings, they're slightly out of tune but in a vulnerable song like this it adds to the effect. The best part yet again is of course the breakdown that is accompanied by Tyler yelling out of frustration I'd have to assume. But yeah this song is just perfect to me. Tyler just wants to be this person's friends but they aren't letting him through, they've put up their barrier and Tyler doesn't know how to deal with his emotions toward this.
Okay yeah easily my AOTY so far this album came out at pretty much the perfect time and has so much replay value it's crazy (apart from a couple songs but I usually end up listening to them anyways). Not sure what else there is to say this thing has gone on way too long anyways. I give "IGOR" a solid 9/10 and hope Tyler can keep his work at this same level with his next project, or go even further.